


Darcy Lewis Vs. Senior Year

by SarkySquirrel



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Coulson doesn't like him either, Darcy hates high school, F/M, Fluff, I really suck at tagging, Kinda, Slow Build, Steve and Bucky are bro, all the girls are a team, car building, characters from other shows are teachers here, no powers, peggy's with the gang because I love her, s, some shit is going on between Bucky and Pierce
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-28
Updated: 2017-05-02
Packaged: 2018-03-15 17:22:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 19,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3455516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SarkySquirrel/pseuds/SarkySquirrel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Darcy is new in town and she hates high school. It's her senior year, her dad is a teacher and she's told to have fun. <br/>Instead she sticks to herself, does her work and ends up forced into writing an History paper with the school's bad boy; Bucky Barnes. <br/>At first she thinks he's just some guy but eventually they bond and duh duh duh, relationship. <br/>Basically; Darcy's attempt at senior year, in a school full of nut jobs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A New Start

                High School. Ugh.

                Darcy has never liked high school. Not that she didn't love education; she did. She hated the pressure it put on her. The whole 'these are the best years of your life, enjoy them' bullshit, was really starting to weigh on her. They weren't going to be the best years of her life. College is going to be so much better. Hopefully.

                Senior Year. Double Ugh.

                Well, senior year isn't so bad. But senior year in an entirely different school, in an entirely different state is another thing. Her dad uprooted her from Los Angeles where she was happy to stay for the rest of her educational career, to New York City. All because he got a new job. And the worst part was; the job was at the school she would be attending.

                Darcy was not amused at the news of the move.

                Nor was Darcy amused when she was forced to get out of bed to go to said school.

                "Come on Darcy. You have to go." Her father, Phil Coulson, shook her out of bed with a coffee in hand. He pulled down the  purple duvet that she was currently hiding under. The sun was far too bright and the darkness welcomed her.

                "Why can't I stay at home? Home-schooling is great. The internet can teach me." She reasoned with him, but to no avail. Her father could rarely be reasoned with when he put his mind to something.

                He shook his head. "The internet will teach you about cat's ringing doorbells like humans."

                "Have you been looking at my internet history again?" She hated when he did that. He was so over protective, it grated on her sometimes. There were some Google searches she'd like to keep private (No she didn't look at porn, more oddities like penguin documentaries or big cat squeaks.).

                "Get ready for your first day of school." He dismissed her question as he exited her room. With the coffee. Coffee, hmmm. Coffee was life support during finals. As well as mornings. Practically every waking hour of her life.

                Growling to herself, she did as he asked and wandered over to her closet, which was - in all honesty  - a mess. She hadn't finished unpacking and so boxes were stacked on top of each other, with clothes hanging off them. Shoes littered the mahogany wood floorboards.

                After fighting through the boxes, Darcy emerged from the room fully dressed with a bag in her hand. She decided on a pair of faded blue skinny jeans with rips at the knees,  a plain white and black baseball tee with a red and black flannel shirt over the top. She wore her usual dark green military jacket and her favourite black Dr Marten Triumph boot's. She decided on natural looking make-up and pushed the books and essentials she needed for that day into her beige and brown leather messenger bag. Before heading out, Darcy picked up her phone and her earphones. The two items she could not live without. Excluding coffee.

                Her father gave her a warm smile as he collected his bag and keys. The smile wasn't reciprocated by Darcy. Maybe a small twitch at the corner of her lips but that was it. Outside her father waited for her in his car and quickly sped off after she was safely inside.

                                                                                *             *             *

                SHIELD High wasn't like most schools. Sure it had the clichéd groups and cliques, the sexy football team, and the bitchy cheerleader squad. But unlike most schools, SHIELD High was more often than not the gateway into private security jobs or government employment. The science department was well known across the States for having the best, most updated equipment. But that was mostly thanks to funding from Stark Industries. Because the prodigy that is Tony Stark, was also an attendee of SHIELD.

                Darcy decided to attempt to avoid him. Sounded too big for his boots. Not worth the effort. She would however stick with her friend Jane, who has attended the school for three years. Darcy met Jane in New Mexico, when her father worked there. Jane's father was a astrophysicist, as was Jane. SHIELD hired her father for his astrophysics research and they left after a year in New Mexico.

                Although Darcy had always thought of LA as her home, she and her father have constantly been moving around and out of the country. LA, New Mexico, London, Virginia, Washington D.C and now, New York City. She hates getting attached to a place then moving states. That's why she wasn't going to get attached. Or at least that's what she told herself.

                Phil dropped her off a block away, Darcy insisting that she didn't want to be seen getting out of a teachers car. Thanking him she shut the door and sighed as he drove away. She could have turned the other way and ran but her brain told her not to. It wasn't cold outside nor was it insanely hot, thankfully. Her walk up to the steps was quiet and peaceful.

                That was until two motorbikes flew past her as she entered the grounds, with a smug looking bastard on the back of one of them. Hoping she wouldn't have to come in contact with those two, Darcy entered the building and made her way to the office, where the principal was waiting for her arrival.

                "You're late, Darcy Coulson." He announced loudly. Too loudly for his secretary who seemed to be nursing a headache, or more likely; hangover. Poor woman.

                "Sorry, and it's Lewis." She apologised. She preferred taking her mother's surname over her father's. Not that she didn't like him; Darcy Coulson just sounded weird to her.

                "Sure it is. Come into my office, I'm Director Fury." Director Fury was the scariest man she'd ever had the pleasure of meeting. He had an eye patch -like a pirate - but she wasn't going to say that out loud.  Secondly he used the title of Director instead of Principal.  That was cool and all, but with the track record of SHIELD High, consequences were high and not something she wanted insight into.

                She didn't want to dwell on it either.

                "Miss Lewis, you have shifted around more than five schools in the past three years. Why is that?" He sat back in his chair while Darcy leaned back in one of the uncomfortable chairs in front of his large desk. She was always asked this question whenever she moved to a new school. Everyone always assumes she's a troublemaker. Sure she has a smart mouth that she can't control often which gets her into some trouble occasionally but she actually cares about her studies.

                "Well, you already know the answer to that question." She paused looking up at him. "You're just asking me to see if I'm going to be any trouble and whether or not that is going to affect my father's position in your fine institution." She sat up straight and smirked with an eyebrow raised. "Am I right, Director Fury?"

                His face was as calm and content as she has heard it has been, as he uncrossed his arms and replied. "Coulson said you were a spark. He was right. Welcome to SHIELD High, Darcy Lewis." She seemed to have passed the test, but then again she was always good at taking tests.

                The silent "get out" was quickly observed by Darcy as she picked up her bag and exited. The assistant who was still nursing her headache handed her a folder before dismissing her.  As she walked to her locker she opened the folder. It contained her schedule, her locker number and some basic paperwork stuff that looked like she had to get her dad to sign.

                Locker was her first destination.

                She opened it with ease and placed the books she wouldn't need until later that day inside. She felt like someone was watching her and was about to turn when the friend she needed to be reacquainted with appeared at her right.

                "Darcy! You're here!" Jane smiled as she pulled Darcy into a hug.

                "I sure am. How are you? I haven't seen you in years." Darcy replied once Jane had finished squeezing her to death.

                "I am fantastic. My dad is letting me help out with his research and allowing me to make my own theories and thoughts as part of my astronomy course."

                "Wow. Yay Science then!" Darcy smiled and might have done a little flail dance.

                "Also I have a boyfriend." Jane added nonchalantly as she opened her locker that was conveniently placed next to Darcy's.

                "Seriously? You took time out of your busy science schedule to actually take a look at the world around you and meet a guy?" Darcy sarcastically replied. It really was hard to believe.

                "Shut up. God, I call you my friend and all." Jane snarked back at her, jokingly.

                "You know you love me Jane." Darcy bumped shoulders with her as shut the door quickly. "So what's his name?"

                "Thor. He's apparently a prince of some island called Asgard. I think it's in Europe." Jane picked up a textbook from her compartment and held it in her arms, closing her locker slowly as she thought of him dreamily. "He's super hot."

                "Of course he is." Darcy rolled her eyes at her friend. "Come on, I've got to go give this to my dad." She smiled as she pulled Jane down the corridor.

                Approaching Coulson's  English room, she entered seeing it empty and smiled. "Hey, Mr Coulson. You need to sign these and give them to Director Fury." She placed the folder down on his desk. She had taken out her papers and stuffed them in her bag during her chat with Jane.

                Darcy and her father had talked about how they were going to talk to each other; both opting for the more professional 'Mr Coulson' when in the company of others. "Thanks Darcy. Hello Jane. It's been a long time." Coulson sighed moving papers out of the way for more papers.

                "Hey, Mr C." She smiled as the bell for class rang. "Oh have to go, see you later Darce."

                "See you. Bye Mr Coulson." She sighed as she exited the room as students began to file in.

                As she walked the corridors she looked at her schedule. Algebra. Wasn't so bad.

                "You have Algebra too."

                She jumped to say the least. Her head snapped up to find a red headed girl next to her. "Uh yeah. Know where it is?" She asked hopeful for some help.

                "This way." The girl pointed as she headed off down the corridor. Darcy followed suit and caught up. "I'm Natasha. You must be Darcy, the one Jane is constantly talking about." Natasha stated.

                "That's me. Nice to meet you Natasha."

                "You too." She replied as the two entered the classroom. The teacher gave her a textbook and directed her to one of the free seats in the back row.

                Sitting down Darcy was happy to be in the back. She was good at Maths even though it was her most hated subject. Scratch that, PE was her most hated subject. Looking around she saw Natasha whispering with a brunette boy, who looked at her and smiled in a friendly fashion before getting caught by the teacher and told to shut up and listen. She noticed the blonde boy in front of her was keeping his eye on the door as much as he could without losing focus on the lesson. He had his phone under the desk, although she couldn't see what he was typing. Snapping out of it, Darcy decided to lean back in her chair and silently watch the board.


	2. First Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First Day at S.H.I.E.L.D High, let's see how that goes.  
> Enjoy!

                The rest of the day was pretty much the same and soon lunch rolled around. Jane invited Darcy to sit with her. Soon others joined. Others including Thor, Natasha, the brunette she was talking to in Algebra whose name was Clint, as well as one Bruce Banner and the one and only Tony Stark and his girlfriend Pepper.  Avoiding him wasn't going to be an option then.

                Jane introduced everyone  to Darcy and vice versa in one breath, like she'd done it a million times. "Okay Thor, Clint, Natasha, Tony, Pepper and Bruce. This is Darcy." She gestured to the brunette."Darcy these are the guys minus some of the guys that you'll meet later."

                Clint and Natasha's mannerisms seemed to suggest that they were in a relationship; the way they shared food, held hands under the table and well, the kissing was the most obvious part.

                Darcy smiled a hello to the lot and received a hug from Thor.

                "Darcy Lewis, Jane has told me many things about you. You seem like an excellent friend, and I hope to earn your friendship." Thor grinned happily. Definitely European. 

                "Thanks Thor." Darcy smiled not really knowing how to reply. "I hope to earn yours too."

                "Of course Darcy. Any friend of Jane's is a friend of mine." He boasted while Jane smiled widely.

                From across the room she noticed the blonde from Algebra and a dark haired guy sitting together looking over at the group. She recognised the brunette as the smug one from this morning on the back of the bike. Blondie seemed to be shaking his head and trying not to laugh at whatever the other guy had said, but he wasn't doing very well. He definitely looked like a member of the football team, the darker haired boy too. They were both extremely fit; not like the ones who obviously look like they've taken so many steroids they were going to explode, but more like the guys who had taken the time to condition their bodies to the way they want.  She quickly cast her eyes down at her tray when the dark haired one caught her staring and she hoped she wouldn't have to come in contact with him again.

                                                                                *             *             *

                Lunch was over pretty quickly after that, and the final class of the day loomed on her. History.

                Bruce had the audacity to direct her to the class, to which she greatly appreciated. The teacher, Mr Hale welcomed her and directed her to one of the few empty seats before beginning roll call. He stopped at one name, James Barnes and waited a few minutes. Soon enough the man himself sauntered into the class and smirked. "Sorry."

                Mr Hale dismissed him and told him to sit down. The only seat available was the one next to her. He winked at her as he sat, to which she rolled her eyes at him. Late to class, smelling of smoke; he obviously thought of himself as badass. Great. What was even more annoying was that he was really attractive. In that rugged, I don't care kind of way.

                That was the worst way.

                She answered her name when it was called, thankful of the fact that he called Lewis instead of Coulson. Soon enough the lesson began and she shrunk back into her seat. The blonde that was in front of her in Algebra was now sitting to her left; Barnes on her right. He introduced himself in a whisper. "Hey, I'm Steve. Nice to meet you Darcy."

                She smiled. "Nice to meet you too."

                To her right Barnes leaned over. "I'm James, but you can call me Bucky." He winked. Darcy could tell that all the girls fell for that. She was still living by her rule; don't get attached.

                "I'm good with Barnes, thanks." She smirked before looking to the board and focusing on the lesson in hand. In the corner of her eye she could see surprise on Barnes' face and she could hear Steve chuckling almost silently on her left.

                Near the end of class Mr Hale decided to be that little bit more mean and give out homework. And not only that; homework that was to be completed with a partner. Everyone glanced around at their buddies with agreeing smiles which quickly fell into sad pouts when he announced that the partners had been pre-chosen by him.

                Darcy hoped to God that she wouldn't be partnered with Barnes.

                God was not on her side today as Mr Hale called out their names. Sighing and hanging her head, she looked to her right at Barnes who was smirking at her with a raised eyebrow.

                They were to write a detailed report on the Second World War but also a certain angle that was up to her and her partner. In her school in England she wrote the same thing but the angle was about  England's part in the battle. She could probably remember most of what she wrote in that. She did remember she received an A for that paper.

                The bell sounded and everyone began to pack up their things, Barnes and Steve waiting for her.

                "Okay, I don't care what your attitude is, I am not doing this alone and letting you take half the credit for it. Got that?" She pointed at Barnes who was quite surprised at her tone of voice.

                "Okay, I got it. So when do you want to meet? I have football practice tonight, so tomorrow?" He offered up the information to her. Steve had a shocked expression on his face too, but she didn't know who he was directing that to; her or Barnes.  
                "Great. Give me your phone." She held her hand out, as he fumbled in his pocket to reach it. It was a brand new Samsung Galaxy S5, and Darcy scoffed a smile while she shook her head at his phone. She typed in her number and sent a message to herself.

                "What? What's wrong with my phone?" He growled. She must have accidentally struck a nerve there.

                "Nothing is wrong with your phone. I'm jealous. I'd love to have an S5." She laughed to herself. She loved her tech. Her phone was her most precious belonging.     "Don't jump to conclusions so quickly. Also that number is purely for work purposes, do not try to call me for a booty call." She pointed her finger at him before handing it back and walking away in the direction of her father's classroom.

                "Hey Mr C." Darcy leaned against the door frame, startling her father as she announced her presence.  "Rough day?" She feigned sympathy as she sat on one of the desks in front of her father's desk.

                "You would not believe. Who would have thought teenagers were so hard to teach? It's like no wants to learn or listen to me." He replied holding his head in his hands.

                "Hmm, so pizza for dinner?" Darcy grinned happily.

                "Definitely pizza for dinner." He agreed while grabbing all his paperwork and everything he had to take home. Darcy felt her phone buzz in her pocket and noticed she had received a text from James Barnes. She unlocked her phone and read it.

                **JB: So whose house are we studying at?**

Rolling her eyes, she felt the phone vibrate again.

**JB: Preferably not mine. Steve and Peggy are doing theirs here. By doing I mean they'll be doing each other. I'd rather not listen to that again.**

**DL: Again??**

Darcy scrunched up her nose before looking up at her dad. "Hey uh, I have a History assignment that I have to do with a partner. Is it okay tomorrow if we do it at home?"

                "Yeah, I have to be in meetings tomorrow anyway." He agreed before looking her straight in the eye. "No funny business; this is just work, correct?" He glared.

                Darcy held her hands up. "Ew of course it's just work. I'm not going to have sex with him. I don't even know him." She speculated before replying to James' text.

                **DL: We can study at my house. No funny business.**

Darcy threw her bag onto her shoulder before following her dad out to his car.

**JB: Yes, just studying. See you tomorrow Darcy Lewis.**

**DL: Bye James Barnes.**

**JB: It's just James, or Bucky if you want it to be. ;)**

                **DL: Like I said before, I'm good with Barnes.**

**JB: Ugh.**

Darcy rolled her eyes and locked her phone as the car pulled up in her garage. She hopped out of the car, before running up the spiral staircase to the first floor; the living space. The second floor was bedrooms and the roof was just a place to hang out as well as her father's office area. She loved her house,  because it was modern and her room was huge but also because the public garden that was to the right of it connected to her house. Which was great if she ever wanted to sneak out.

                Her room, as said before, was quite spacious. She had a wall of shelves for her books, as well as a walk in closet and a nook with which held a sofa and her desk that she spent a lot of time working at. She loved the dark purple paint and the painted blue shelves that lined the walls.

                However her bed and her TV were the things she loved the most. Her bed was the comfiest bed in the universe and her TV had all her games consoles on singular shelves on each side. She kept her games on one of the shelves, ordered in console and alphabetical.

                The only thing she had left to unpack was her closet and her bathroom thankfully. Though to be honest the bathroom wasn't exactly hard. She had to put her toiletries in there. That was it. Her closet had to be done though and so she quickly set on doing so.

                After she had finished, dinner arrived and was quickly eaten, almost inhaled by Phil and Darcy. Feeling full Darcy retreated to her room and very quickly fell asleep.


	3. Next Day; Should Be Better Right?

                The following day was pretty boring. Algebra taught her nothing more than she already knew. Foreign languages weren't her thing. Science is easy when you sit next to two scientists, and Tony Stark is a very annoying person.

                English was... Awkward.

                Because she just had to be taught by her father didn't she?

                Plus everyone she knew was in that class too. Barnes, Steve, Jane, Thor, Tony, Natasha Bruce, Clint and Pepper.

                Of course Jane knew the relation between Darcy and Coulson, she was her best friend after all. Darcy was sure after that lesson though everyone knew there was something going on. Darcy wouldn't look at Mr Coulson in the eye, or at all. She did listen to the class, though.

                From anyone else point of view, her father was a genuinely good teacher. His first day wasn't so good but he was working to get better. He was doing well. He didn't seem to pick on anyone in particular, he was fair. He did make a couple of really lame jokes, but that just made him all that much better.

                Thankfully nothing happened during the lesson and the bell for lunch rang. Everyone was quick to collect their belongings and rush out of the classroom.

                She almost made it out to before,

                "Darcy, can I talk to you?" was spoken behind her. She sighed and Barnes tilted his head and squinted. Steve just pushed him away and Jane nodded her understanding as she too left the class. Once the room was empty, save for Coulson and herself, he began. "Is everything okay?"

                "Hmm what? Of course everything is fine, why would you say that?" Darcy smiled pulling at the leather strap of her bag.

                "You seemed distant today. Is this to do with the fact that you don't want anyone to know about me being your father?" He guessed it straight away. Darcy sighed, which signalled his correct answer.

                "You remember what happened in D.C. I was ridiculed for being the teacher's daughter. Everyone thought that you were going easy on me, or that I must of been getting help at home which was why my grades were so excellent."Darcy admitted. "I just don't want that here."

                "I'm not going to call you out on it. But remember if that does happen again you will tell me." Darcy nodded a promise and a smile twitched at the corner of her mouth. "Now get out of here. You're going to have to find you own way home, since I'm stuck in meetings tonight. I'll be home around nine so your homework buddy better be gone by then." He smiled as he walked to the door with her. "Remember; no funny business."

                "No funny business." Darcy said as he did. "I know. Since when did you stop trusting me with boys?"

                Coulson laughed and pushed her out the door. "Since you became a teenager and a certain incident with one Ian Boothby in L.A."

                And that was that.

                Ian wasn't even a thing. The furthest she went with Ian was holding hands and making out on the couch. The incident was merely that her father walked into the room just as she and Ian were in the middle of a tickling fight. It was nothing more than that. Nothing more ever happened after that. Because Darcy moved to New York City.

                                                                                *             *             *

                Darcy joined the gang in the lunch hall. All of them managed to squish on a single table with a spare seat for her next to Jane. She looked concerned, but Darcy waved it off.       "Don't worry everything is fine."

                Jane sent her the look that said 'we are going to talk about this later in private' before turning back to her food. James looked at her from across the table, that same confusion from earlier in his eyes. Darcy merely shook  her head before picking at her tray of chips, staring a hole into the table.

                She must have been staring for a while because Jane nudged her shoulder to pull her out of her thoughts. "What?" She sighed once she was back in reality.

                "Okay, bathroom now." Jane sighed as she picked up her backpack and pulled Darcy away. Natasha and Pepper followed once Jane signalled them to come. The boys were left with confused glances to each other as the female population of the table left.

                                                                                *             *             *

                "What did Coulson say?" Jane started once she double checked that the bathroom was empty save for the four of them.

                "Nothing. He just asked why I was so distant in class today." Darcy conceded. She trusted Jane and knew from stories that she had told her, that Natasha and Pepper were better at keeping things on the down low.

                Pepper piped up before Jane could reply. "Who is Mr Coulson to you?"

                "He's my dad." Darcy replied.

                "Tony owes me $50." Natasha smirked happily.

                "Wait what?" Darcy questioned. They were betting on her?

                Jane admitted shyly, "Once you stayed behind Tony bet that you and Coulson were..."

                Natasha filled in. "Having sex. I bet against him saying that he was probably your father or your uncle."

                Darcy shuddered. "Ew, no offence Pepper but Tony is disgusting. Ugh. I'm never going to be able to look at Tony again."

                Pepper smiled. "None taken Darce."

                Natasha was fixing her lipstick in the mirror when she added, "You should probably tell Barnes the truth though, he looked kind of bummed when Tony shared his theory with the rest of the group."

                Darcy tried to hide the smile, and replied. "Really?" Okay so maybe something was bubbling inside her.  What happened to not getting attached?

                "We should probably return to the table. We'll keep your secret Darcy. You tell whoever you want when you are ready." Jane smiled pulling her bag onto her shoulder and turning to leave. Darcy followed suit and pushed the strap of her bag onto her shoulder. Nat and Pepper reciprocated and laughed as they did. "Tony is going to be gutted he lost. He thinks he wins at everything."

                                                                                *             *             *

                Back at the table, Pepper, Natasha and Jane all relocated to next to their partners and Darcy sat by Jane, smiling at her chips before eating them. There was a significant loss in the number of fries as there were before she left. Someone was stealing her chips and she give a pointed glare at Clint who pointed at Tony. She knew exactly who it was but she wasn't going to call any names.

                The name began with 'J' and ended with 'ames Barnes'.

                Her phone buzzed and she pulled it out of her military jacket's left pocket.

                **JB: Everything okay? Are we still on for tonight? ;)**

Rolling her eyes, Darcy quickly typed a reply.

                **DL: Everything is okay. And yes our STUDY session is still on.**

                Sadly the bell for the last lesson of the day rang and everyone parted to their different classes. Darcy was on her way to her Government and Politics class when she was stopped by one of the governors at S.H.I.E.L.D High. "Darcy Lewis. My name is Alexander Pierce, one of the board members here at S.H.I.E.L.D."  Pierce introduced himself to her officially. "I hope your attendance here will be better and longer than your previous attendance history."

                "Well sir, if you let me get to my class I can assure you it will be." The corridors were clear now, apart from the few stragglers who were using their last few minutes of freedom to pray to God that time will fly by so they can go home.

                Pierce nodded and stepped away, letting her pass. He was a creepy one that man. Not one she would like to come into close contact ever again but with her father being a teacher after all it was inevitable.


	4. Darcy Takes Bucky Home...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ...But there's no funny business.

                Ms. Hand let her off being late for this once but promised detention the next time she turned up late without a note.

                Barnes was sitting at the back of the class, next to one of the few empty seats available.

                Darcy was rattled to say the least. Why would Pierce introduce himself like that, and so suddenly? Was it just because of her father's position in the school? He seemed to have some ulterior motive behind the specific point he made at her. She felt her phone vibrate silently in her pocket, and pulled it out sneakily.

                **JB: You don't look so good.**

Darcy looked up at Hand to see if she was looking before typing a response.

                **DL: Wow, you really know how to compliment a girl Barnes.**

**JB: I'm serious. Are you sure you want to have the study session today?**

**DL: You sound very adamant to get out of it.**

**JB: God, why do I even bother?**

**DL: I'm kidding. Of course it's still on. But I do need to tell you something after class.**

**JB: If you're sure.**

Darcy nodded before putting her phone away and scribbling down the notes Hand had appeared to write on the board and commanded everyone to write down. Ms. Hand was definitely one not to mess with. She was very serious. Darcy didn't like her.

                                                                *             *             *

                After what felt like hours in that class, the bell went and school was out. Darcy picked up her notebook and her bag before slinking away to her locker to pick up the heavy books she was going to have to walk home with in her hand.

                Barnes appeared to her right leaning against the locker. "So what did you need to tell me?" He tilted his head as Darcy slammed her locker shut and pushed her books into her bag.

                "I heard from three very reliable sources that during lunch Tony and Natasha started a betting pool on who Mr Coulson was to me." Darcy began and James looked away at the wall directly opposite to him. "Well, I'm here to tell you that Natasha won; Coulson is my dad." Darcy wouldn't admit it, and neither would James, that he had a happy smile littering his lips. "And the fact that Tony even suggested what he did is disturbing and also very, very illegal."

                "Ah, cool. Does this mean I have a chance?" The smirk returned as Darcy pushed herself away from her locker.

                "Not in a million years, James." Darcy shook her head as she strolled out the front entrance of the school.

                "Holy crap, you called me James." He stated as he walked next to her.

                "Well that is your name right? I'm more than happy to revert back to Barnes if you don't like it." She smiled as she made her way through the parking lot in the direction of her house.

                "Where are you going? Bike's this way." James smiled and pointed to his very nice motorbike, that was taking up a whole parking space. Darcy turned on her heel and joined him at his bike. "Please continue to call me James. And I'm going to need directions." He smiled as he got on the bike, patting the space behind him for her to sit. Darcy smiled and rolled her eyes, as she sat behind him. "Hold on tight." Darcy could feel the smirk radiating from him. He was having way to much fun.

                She pointed the way home and soon enough they were there. Darcy pulled out her keys and opened the garage door, to let James and his bike in. The garage was a mess. There were moving boxes piled high, rubbish bags huddled in a corner, there were tools strewn about on the work bench at the back of the room. Her car was covered by a sheet as she was yet to finish fixing the engine. Upon entering, that was the first thing James noticed.

                "What car do you have under that sheet? If it's a convertible, my opinion of you will decrease exponentially." James steadied his bike and pulled his bag out of the saddlebag on the side.

                "That was a big word, well done." Darcy sarcastically remarked before pulling the sheet off, but not after boasting, "This is Baby, she's a 1969 Chevy Camaro Sport SS." The sheet was off and James eyes lit up with excitement. There were some dents in the hood, and the windows were missing but overall the outside of her was looking pretty good.

                "Shit, my opinion of you has just sky rocketed. Where did you get her? And why don't you drive her to school?" He looked through the window space to the interior which was looking fairly ragged and needed a change.

                "I got her when I was living in D.C for a really cheap price because she was going to be taken apart for scrap. And I don't drive her to school because I haven't finished rebuilding the engine and I need to smooth out the dents, replace the windows, the headlights and the backlights, before I can drive without being arrested."

                "Wait, you're rebuilding this yourself?" He speculated.

                "Yeah. I know how to build and fix cars." She deadpanned before throwing the sheet over the car again and walking towards the staircase. "Why, does it surprise you?"

                "Well, yeah. All the girls I know, apart from Natasha, love crappy new cars and don't respect the classics." James commented as he followed her a few steps behind. "Except for you, it seems."

                "Come on up." She pointed up at the ceiling before running up the remainder of steps to the living room and kitchen.

                "You have a nice place, Darce." He summed up simply.

                "Thanks." Darcy appreciated happily. "When is the assignment due, anyway?"

                "The end of the semester."

                "Huh. So what twist are we going to put on our paper? I have a few ideas but I'm interested in what you want to know." Darcy smiled dropping her bag on the floor next to the coffee table and placing her phone on the wood.

                James rolled his eyes. He knew she thought he didn't care, but he really liked History. His grandpa told him so many stories about his time during World War Two, he could tell them as if they were his own. "Well, we could talk about the Soviet's role in the war. A lot of people will talk about either England or America's part but rarely does anyone think about Russia's role." Darcy nodded him along wondering what other ideas he had. "Or we could write about the horrifying experiments the Nazi's performed on the Jews and captured Allied soldiers." James offered, remembering select stories that he was told.

                When he looked at Darcy she also had sadness in her eyes, maybe she knew some of her own stories. "I doubt anyone else will write about that. It's definitely a twist." She nodded. "Shall we? Write about that I mean." Darcy asked.

                "If you're okay with that. I have some stories my grandpa used to tell me." He confided in her, while she stood up and shuffled to the bookcase lining the wall. She pulled out a thick book, a photo album and returned to the couch with the book in hand. She placed it on the table an opened it. It contained black and white pictures of soldiers. She pulled one out delicately and held it out to him pointing at a man.

                "That was my granddad, Captain Benjamin Coulson. He was one of the soldiers that were captured by the Nazis." Darcy divulged.

                "Did he survive?" James empathised.

                She pulled out another picture, a group of men laughing and smiling even though the time was a dark one. He noticed her grandfather and a very recognisable man. "Thanks to this man, yes."

She was holding a finger to the man he recognised. "Dad and I never found out his name but we always thanked him on Thanksgiving and granddad's birthday."

                "His name was T.J." James confessed.

                Darcy looked up at his face instead of the photograph. "What? How do you know?"

                "Sergeant Thomas Jefferson Barnes. He was my grandpa." He smiled and looked at her, into her eyes. Her beautiful brown eyes, a single tear rolled down her cheek.

                She wiped the tear away, smiling. "Wow, that's incredible. Granddad used to say he was the joker of the team. He was always pulling pranks on everyone. Lightened the mood when it got dark." She smiled widely at the picture. "He would tell me that he never would have survived the war without his best friend, nor would he have wanted to."

                James chuckled and inputted his own memories. "Grandpa always told me that Benjamin was so serious, but always stuck up for him so they often got away with their pranks because the colonel would believe Ben straight off the bat. He was also a lightweight when it came to the alcohol. The team would always mix his drink and get him wasted. Everyone regretted it the next morning though because Ben was grouchy whenever hung over."

                Darcy smiled. "I wish I could have met T.J."

                James nodded. "You can. He's still alive and kicking."

                "Really?" Darcy speculated, while James chuckled at her enthusiasm.

                "Yeah, I'm sure he'd love to meet you."

                "When can we go?" Darcy really wanted to hear what he had to say about her granddad and his adventures.

                "Uh, the home is probably still open. We could go now if you want." James shook his head, before adding. "But don't you want to get started on this paper?"

                Darcy picked up her keys and her phone. "Oh come on James, we have weeks left to do so." She leaned down over him and whispered, "Live a little."

                "Ha, yeah sure." He pulled himself up off the couch and left his bag next to hers.

                She opened the garage door to let him out, before closing and locking up. Jumping on the back of his bike she giggled as she wrapped her arm around his waist and he sped off.


	5. Meet T.J

                "James Barnes. Here to see T.J. Barnes." He introduced himself to the lady at the desk at the front of the care home.

                The lady nodded and gestured to her and James to follow.

                Reaching the last room at the end of the hall James knocked and walked in.

                "James, getting older every time I see you." T.J smiled from the bed in which he laid in. "And who is this fine young lady?" He smiled calling Darcy forward.

                "Hey grandpa. This is Darcy." He smiled as he pulled two seats next to the bed. "She's Benjamin Coulson's granddaughter."

                "Ah, I knew I recognised those brown eyes from somewhere. It's nice to meet you Darcy."

                "You too, Mr Barnes." Darcy held his hand and sat in the seat next to James.

                "Oh, please call me T.J." He smiled, squeezing her hand lightly.

                "Well then it's a pleasure to meet you T.J." Darcy could barely contain her excitement.

                James chuckled. "Seriously? You accept his nickname straight away but you had to call me Barnes for two days after we met?"

                Darcy replied playfully. "Well, maybe you should have been much more gentlemanly like T.J. here or Steve was. Maybe you could learn a thing or two."

                That sent T.J. into a fit of laughter that ended with coughing. "You should keep this one around Bucky, she's a real firecracker." He laughed once he recovered.

                James smiled and looked to her. "I plan on it." Maybe a little blush crept up on her cheeks but neither of the Barnes men mentioned it.

                "Now why did you decide to randomly visit?" T.J got right down to business.

                James smiled, "We are writing a history assignment on World War Two and we have to write an additional report with our own twist on it."

                Darcy added. "Most people are going to write about America or England's roles in the war but we decided to dive straight in. "

                James nodded and finished up. "We were going to write about the experiments the Nazi's performed on the Jews and the captured Allied soldiers. Then Darcy showed me the pictures of Benjamin and you and your team and we shared stories and I think we decided to write about you and your team; The Howling Commandos."

                T.J. smiled and nodded, "I am honoured and I'm sure your granddaddy would be too." Darcy squeezed the veteran soldier's hand before looking to James. "Bucky would you mind if I spoke to Darcy alone?"

                James shrugged. "Of course not. I'll wait outside." Darcy sent him a quick smile as he left the room and closed the door behind him with a soft click.

                Darcy smiled at the door before turning back to T.J.

                "You look so much like Benny. Same eyes, Same long hair, same complexion." T.J held a hand to her cheek. "You have known James for all of three days and he's already a different person."

                "I can't say anything about that, I don't know what he used to be like." Darcy shook her head but continued smiling.

                "He hadn't visited for four months, until two days ago." T.J. pointed out. "He cares for you Darcy, and I can see that a part of you cares for him too." T.J. cited. "Just promise this old man you'll look after him."

                "I promise I'll look after him or I'll die trying. He's very stubborn." She entertained. T.J chuckled before pointing to the drawer in the bedside table. She opened it per his request and pulled out an old leather book, what looked to be a journal.

                "Your granddaddy and I both had one. It has all our memories inside the pages. This is mine. You should ask Phil where Benny's is. Give this to Bucky."

                "I can call him back in, you can give it to him yourself." Darcy pointed at the door. T.J. shook his head.

                "You do it. He knows why." T.J. vaguely replied. "But please call him back in, I need to talk to him too."

                "A pep talk?" Darcy raised an eyebrow and grinned.

                "I have to teach him how to treat a lady properly otherwise he's never going to get the girl of his dreams." T.J. winked before waving his hand. She held it, before she was pulled over the side of the bed into a warm hug. "Apart from Steve and I, he has no one. And I'm fading faster than I'd like to be." He whispered into her ear. "Please care for him."

                Once the hug was over, Darcy sniffed and wiped her tears away. "You'll see Benny again. Then you can prank everyone up in heaven like back in the old days."

                T.J. nodded and waved goodbye to Darcy as she opened the door and left with tears in her eyes. James was sitting on the floor against the wall facing the door. Taking a breath Darcy handed the journal to James and told him T.J wanted to talk. James picked himself up off the floor and entered the room. Darcy pulled a tissue out of her pocket to wipe her eyes with.

                 A few seconds later, her phone rang; Dad. Sniffing Darcy answered the phone and spoke. "Hey dad."

                "Hey Darce where are you? I called the house and there was no answer. I thought you were working on your history paper with the mysterious male partner?" He questioned, no interrogated her. If he didn't become a teacher, he probably could have become a cop or a government agent.

                "Uh, yeah we kind of are. You remember granddad used to talk about his adventures with the Howling Commandos? Well, I found out that the man that rescued granddad from the Nazi's was T.J. Barnes, James Barnes' grandpa. James being the mysterious male partner." She smiled as she slowly paced the hall in a circle.

                Phil took a big breath. "Wow, really? That's incredible Darcy. Where are you then?"

                Darcy answered his question quickly. "We're at the care home where T.J. lives, I wanted to meet him after all the stories granddad used to tell us about. We've decided to write the report about them."

                "You are going to want to read dad's journal then." Phil replied from the other end of the line.

                "Yeah, do you know where it is?" Darcy stopped mid-pace, hopeful that they still had it.

                "It's in the trunk with your mother's belongings." Phil was hesitant at first. They hadn't opened that trunk since they first put everything in it.

                "Oh." Darcy paused. "Do you mind if I get it out?"

                "Wait until I get home. We'll face that box together." He assured her. "Don't forget to eat."

                "I won't. Have fun in your meetings." She joked, knowing full well how he felt about meetings.

                "I won't. Love you Darce." He breathily joked before saying his goodbyes.

                "Love you too, Dad." She hung up, just as James exited the room. There were tear trails down his cheeks, from where he'd been crying. She wasn't going to ask, but she did say, "If you want to talk or just sit in silence, whatever, I'm here for you James."

                He nodded before wiping his face with his sleeve and breathing in heavily."Wanna go grab a bite to eat? I know a great pizza place."

                Darcy nodded and nudged shoulders with James as they strolled down the corridor together, He didn't just smile, he full on grinned.

                Darcy was falling. She was falling fast.


	6. The Trunk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really long chapter for you guys, I hope you enjoy.

                When Darcy returned home, thanks to James dropping her off, they had an awkward goodbye. Thankfully it was a Friday night and she wouldn't have to see anyone for two whole days, and she could sleep until about 2pm.

                "Thank you, James." Darcy began once she slid off the back of his bike in her garage. "For the ride and also for introducing me to your grandfather."

                "It's no problem Darcy, it helped both of us." He smiled happily, holding the journal in his hand.

                "Uh do you want to come up and have a cup of coffee?" She shrugged. His bag was still in her living room and she wasn't going to make him wait outside while she grabbed it for him.

                "Sure." He agreed while getting off his bike and stabilising it next to Lola her father's car.

                "Great." Darcy breathed out as she skipped up the spiral staircase. "Also my dad is home and he's probably going to be grumpy."

                "I'll be on my best behaviour then." He smirked from behind her.

                "Do that." She laughed as she diverged into the living room noticing her father with his head down on the breakfast bar. "Hey dad. How were the meetings?"

                "Oh just fantastic." He sneered as he lifted his head and rubbed his face and his eyes. "Hello James."

                "Hey Mr Coulson." James waved as he followed behind Darcy to her kitchen. She had begun making the cups of caffeinated drinks; coffee for James and a cup of tea for herself.

                "Want a cup dad?" She said over her shoulder as she watched James sit down at the edge of the table.

                "Nah, I'm good with this." He held up a bottle of Jack Daniels Bourbon whiskey and shook his head. "Thanks though."

                Darcy nodded and returned to making the drinks which didn't take too long thankfully.

                "So we finally have a name to the face that rescued granddad then?" Phil started as he decided to leave all the paperwork he needed to do for tomorrow.

                "Yup. T.J. Barnes is a real charmer. I can see why Granddad like him so much." Darcy smiled as she placed James' mug in front of him and sat down across from her father  with her own steaming hot mug.

                "Still can't believe how quickly you accepted his nickname." James commented into his coffee. He reeled back when he burnt the tip of his tongue.

                "Well, like I said before, he introduced himself like a gentleman." She pointedly glared at him.

                "So that's what you're writing a report about? The Howling Commando's and their adventures."

                James nodded. "Yep. It's a spin that no one else is going to write about."

                "What about Steve?" Her father questioned.

                "He and Peggy decided on something different, since Peg's English. They were going to do something with that." He explained after taking a gulp of coffee. It was finally at a drinkable temperature, much like her tea, and so he didn't burn himself. Darcy nodded along to the conversation, sipping at her tea occasionally, but she couldn't help but notice his Adam's apple bobbling as he did. She tried very hard not to bite her lip, and looked into her tea to distract herself.

                "Huh. Cool." Her dad smiled as he downed a glass of his bourbon. Darcy wasn't one to enjoy bourbon. She preferred beer or cider over anything. Although technically she wasn't legal to drink. There was always beer in the fridge in case she or her dad were having a particularly bad night.

                James looked at his watch and noticed it was getting quite late. "Well, I better go. Thanks for the coffee and showing me those pictures Darcy. I'll see you later." He smiled as he picked up his bag before moving to the staircase. "Bye Mr Coulson."

                Darcy followed him down to the garage, hearing her father throw a goodbye over his shoulder. "Thank you again." Darcy smiled as she opened the garage door for the brunette boy who was turning his bike around and mounting it. "See you soon, James."

                "See ya, Darcy." He smiled before revving his engine and speeding off onto the road. Darcy bit her lip as she closed and locked the door before heading back upstairs.

                She had noticed the old trunk near the TV when she entered before, but didn't bring it to any attention. "Are you ready for this dad? It's been a while.." She started as he brought a fresh cup of tea over to the coffee table and his whiskey.

                "You need that journal. And it's time we open it." He assured not only her but also himself.

                Darcy released a breath she didn't know she was holding. She sat next to her father on the couch as he placed the trunk at their feet. This was a huge deal, maybe not to anyone else, but to Darcy and her father.. This was physically hard.

                "Shall we?" He asked as he popped the lock and lifted to lid. Inside, there was no big surprise, no hidden item. Only memories of a past long forgotten.

                Covering everything lay her mother's soft chestnut brown leather jacket. Darcy smiled at the memories that flooded her mind; camping trips, hiking, snowboarding. Her mom would wear that everywhere she went, from the hottest summers to the coldest winters that jacket was with her always.

                Delicately pulling it out of the trunk Darcy brought the leather to her face; her mother's strawberry perfume was still there, and she hugged it softly.

                Underneath, photographs and books were stacked on top of each other, some of her old toys sat untouched, leaning against each other or the four corners of the old trunk that kept them locked up.

                She could see her dad controlling himself in the corner of his eye, trying not to break down in tears. He reached in and pulled out an old leather journal and a stack of pictures. He placed the journal on his knee as he leaned back into the couch pillows behind him and smiled at the pictures in his hand. Darcy leaned on his shoulder looking up at the pictures.

                "Do you remember this one?" Her father began his voice filled with both happiness and sadness all at once. "We had so much fun." He held up a photo of a very young Darcy, maybe three or four, in her mother's lap on top of Lola - her dad's car - with genuine smiles and crinkled eyes.

                "No, what did we do?" Darcy asked softly, looking at her mother's wavy brown hair flowing out of her face.

                "We drove up to San Francisco from L.A and toured the city, ate ice-cream in Ben and Jerry's and visited all the attractions that were open at the time." He recounted the tale as if it happened yesterday. He switched the photo's to one of her mother hugging her horse.

                "Rain." Darcy smiled as she stroked the picture.

                "That was taken before you were born. Before you even existed." He remembered with happiness in his voice. "You're mother loved horses, Rain especially." Rain was a tall, white and grey dapple Andulusian mare. She and her mother were so in tune with each other, it was as if they could communicate with just soft touches and warm hands.

                "I miss her. I miss them both." Darcy sighed as a tear rolled out of the corner of her eye.

                "I know. So do I. But they're together now." He was right. When Rain passed, Darcy and Phil had decided to bury her next to Darcy's mother. "They are probably galloping through heaven together, eating carrots and watching over us."

                "I hope Rain is watching over Epona. I hope Epona is okay." Darcy, although she may not seem like it, also followed her mother in her gift with horses. Epona was her best friend. Epona was also wild, a mustang. Black coat, black mane. Sure Darcy had ridden her, but she never fully broke her in; Darcy didn't want to. Darcy spent a good part of her life in Virginia, it was where she was born and where she spent most of her childhood. Her mother taught her how to ride on ponies and eventually horses. Epona stumbled into her life somewhere around her thirteenth birthday.

                "You could go and see Epona you know. It's only a six hour drive from here." Her father suggested as he pulled out a picture of her mother on Rain's back and Darcy on Epona's. They both had no tack, posing for the camera, making silly faces. The horses too.

                "Remember I don't have a car and I'm not about to go and drag Lola through one of Virginia's National Forests." Darcy smiled as she leaned forward to pick up her tea, before returning to her original spot.

                "True, but what about Baby? Maybe you and your new friend can fix her up and then drive her down." He suggested honestly.

                "I doubt Bucky would want to spend six hours in a car with me only to find ourselves in a forest. I don't think that's his deal." Darcy denied, she barely noticed how she referred to him as 'Bucky' instead of her usual James.

                "He gave you the opportunity to meet one of the few people he has left in his life, why don't you show him one of the few things you rarely let anyone know about? Maybe you can get to know each other a little better." It was only a suggestion but Darcy couldn't say he wasn't right. She did want to get to know him, she wouldn't have admitted that to herself a week ago.  Seriously, what happened to not getting attached?

                "When am I going to find the time? To both fix up Baby and go see Epona?" She exasperated. The idea was getting to her head and she really did miss Epona. Plus it would be nice having her own car to drive again.

                "Well you have a whole weekend available for number one. And you also have next weekend for number two." He replied wholeheartedly.

                She debated in her head before giving up. "I better get Baby fixed up then."

                "You better had." He grinned before placing the pictures back in the trunk, and draped the jacket back over the top. "It's getting late, I should sleep."

                "Yeah. Night dad." She smiled as he locked up the case and handed the journal to her, which she took carefully.  Darcy fished her phone out of her pocket and sent a quick text to James.

**DL: I have Granddad's journal. Have you opened T.J's?**

She held the thick, leather bound journal in her hand as she strolled up the staircase to her bedroom, clicking the door shut behind her. Her phone buzzed in her pocket, James' reply glaringly bright on the screen.

                **JB: No not yet. Have you read any of yours?**

**DL: No, I've got other emotions on my plate right now.**

Darcy quickly shed her day clothes and opted for pyjama shorts and an oversized sweater. He had replied by the time she returned from the bathroom and her closet.

                **JB: Are you okay?**

Darcy couldn't help but smile as she replied to his text.

                **DL: Yeah, just memories resurfacing.**

He didn't reply by text for a few minutes after her message. Darcy though he had fallen asleep, and the image of James sleeping soundly with his phone in his hand filled her brain. She stifled a giggle before her phone vibrated. Someone was calling her. Well, someone. James, James was calling her. She accepted the call and placed the phone to her ear.

                "Hey. I thought I said no booty calls?" She joked, though it didn't amuse her like it usually would.

                "Are you okay? Is this about your granddad?" He asked, concerned for her.

                "Yeah, and no, it's about my mom." She replied, feeling safe with him. She didn't get that feeling around just anyone.

                He paused for a second. "Want to talk about it?" There was a loud horn sound from the other side of the line, she would have through James would be home by now.

                "Not over the phone." She heard the exact same horn sound from outside her window. "Wait, where are you?"

                "In the public garden next to your house." He stated, as if it were obvious.

                "Of course you are. Why didn't you go home?" She questioned as she pulled on her glasses.

                "I did. Come out and talk to me."

                "Why didn't you stay at home?" Darcy huffed as she pulled herself out of bed and strolled to her closet to pick up a pair of jeans and her easy to slip on converse chucks. She couldn't be bothered to change her blue tank top and her grey oversized sweater, nor could she be bothered to do her make-up or put her contact lenses in.

                "Steve and Peggy were still-"

                "Nope, don't tell me. I don't need the details. I'm coming out now, hold on."

                "Bring the journal too." He replied happily before hanging up.

                "I will." She said to the dead line as she picked up the journal and her house keys, and climbed the stairs to the roof. She checked on her father when she glided by his room; sound asleep. He was a heavily sleeper, thankfully.

                As she opened the roof door, James sat on the steps facing her. "Hey." She smiled as she shut the door with a click.

                He stood up and raised his eyebrows in concern. "How are you?"

                "I'm okay, I think." She smiled as they sat down on a bench together.

                "Do you want to talk about it? I'm a great listener." He offered.

                "Yeah, if you don't mind listening to my boring life." She only scoffed a little, trying not to sound self-deprecating.

                "I highly doubt your life is boring. What I've heard about you so far has been interesting." He pulled her into a sideways hug, smiling affectionately at her. He held T.J's journal in his left hand, embracing her with his right.

                "Thanks, I guess?" She sighed as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

                They sat in silence for a few minutes before James broke it. "I didn't know you wore contact lenses."

                "Hm?" She hummed, before he tapped on the black frames of her geek glasses. "Oh yeah."

                "I like them." He commented softly.

                "So do I." She sighed.

                "So why don't you wear them every day?" He chuckled at the brunette girl leaning on his arm.

                "I used to. But they just became inconvenient." She blinked heavily, and sighed in the mild air.

                "How did they become inconvenient?" He innocently asked her.

                "In L.A I was often teased in school and I quickly got fed up of having to buy new glasses every time."

                "When you say teased, did they bully you?" He paused mid sentence. Darcy could feel him stiffen. She looked down at the fray of her jumper and sat silently. He turned to face her, to look in her eyes. "Darcy, tell me."

                "Yeah, they did." She sensed the way he softened, and shook her head. "I don't want your pity."

                "I'm not pitying you, I know what it's like to be at the brunt of the human race."

                Darcy was crying now. "Yeah right. Why would anyone want to bully you? You are attractive and intelligent, and Steve would snap them in two." She hated feeling this way, but the mixed emotions she was feeling had overcome her and she had to let it out.

                James held her as she sobbed quietly. "Steve wasn't always as fit as he is now."

                She sniffled. "Sure."

                "Steve used to be tiny, ninety pounds soaking wet. He was the dreamboat for every disease you could think of. He was partially deaf, colour blind, had asthma." He rubbed her shoulder as she listened to him. "Steve and I, we grew up together, he was an orphan and I only had my grandpa left. Me and him against the world. I often had to drag him out of fights or get in the trouble myself. Steve hates bullies. As do I." He listened to her sobs quieten down. "Darcy, if you ever come in contact with anyone who hurt you, tell me."

                "Are you my knight in shining armour?" She chuckled, wiping her tears away with the back of her thumb.

                "Just promise me that you'll tell me." He ignored the jab.

                "I promise, James." She assured him.

                "Are you feeling any better?" He checked.

                She nodded. "A little, thank you." She smiled. "So why can't you open the journal?"

                James smirked before shooting back. "Why can't you open yours?"

                "Because I have been too busy thinking about my mom. I don't think Steve and Peggy's private lives can be used as an excuse for you." She smiled pulling her leg up to sit on it.

                "Well, I've been too busy thinking about T.J."

                "How about we take a break for tonight, and we talk about it tomorrow? There is something I'd like to ask you." Darcy decided Virginia was going to happen, whether or not James was joining her was another thing.

                "That sounds like a great idea." He smiled placing the two journals on her bench by his knee. "What would you like to ask about?" He took a deep breath before he bantered, "Is it if I'm single? Maybe it's can we go on a date? Tell me, tell me." He chuckled as Darcy rolled her eyes.

                "I was going to ask if you'd help me rebuild Baby, and if you'd like to take a trip with me once she's fixed." She tilted her head in question.

                "Of course I'll help you build your car, and what does this trip entail? Where would we go?"

                "A place very special to me. A place very few people know about." She vaguely replied.

                "That's not vague and ominous at all." He uttered. "It feels like you're taking me out to the far reaches of nowhere to kill me."

                Darcy rolled her eyes. "Well, if you're going to be like that." Darcy motioned to move away before James grabbed her hand and pulled her down next to her.

                "Why?"

                "Why what?"

                "Why are you asking me to help you? And why are you taking me to this vague place?" He tilted his head and narrowed his eyes slightly.

                "I trust you. That's not something I give out freely. Plus," She sighed contently. "Not many guys willingly turn up at a girl's house at 2 am just to talk. Nor do they invite said girl that they barely know to meet their last remaining family member as if they were meeting with friends."

                "Are you saying I'm not like most guys, and that's a good thing?" He quirked his eyebrow and smirked.

                Darcy tilted her neck and looked up at the starry night with a laugh. "Yes that's what I'm saying."

                "So how much of chance do I have with you? Still a million years?" He joked referencing a previous conversation.

                "Not in, let's say a thousand years. You're more tolerable than I originally thought James." She smirked before yawning.

                "I'll take that compliment. Tired?" He smirked before sighing at the stars.

                "Yeah, it's been a long day." She remembered back to the reason he was out in the first place. "Do you need a place to sleep?"

                "No I think I'll be fine. I'll just have to live with the torturous sounds if I do stumble in, in the middle of thei-" He lamented as Darcy interrupted again.

                "Still don't need the details." She took her Granddad's leather journal before standing up. "Safe journey home." She beamed as James stood up and hugged her before strolling away with his journal. "Hey James?" She called out.

He turned to look at her and smiled, "Yeah?"

                "Thank you, for not being like other guys."

                He grinned in the darkness before waving and turning to walk in the direction of his home. Darcy beamed happiness as she entered her home through the roof access and made her way back to her room.

                Once she was in her warm bed, her phone buzzed.

                **JB: Tomorrow, 10 am. Your house?**

**DL: You aren't going to let me sleep in are you?**

**JB: Nope. Don't wear your contacts.**

**DL: Fine.**

**JB: What, no funny business?**

**DL: Well my dad is going to be here so...**

**JB: Are you sure you don't want all this?**

**DL: Remember the vague, ominous place I'm taking you to? I can leave you there if you like.**

**JB: Ooff, tough crowd. Sleep tight Darcy Lewis.**

**DL: Night James.**

She fell asleep quickly after their text chat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also thank you for the comments and the kudos and the bookmarking!


	7. A Morning Suprise

                "Wakey, wakey, Darcy Lewis."

                Darcy was confused, her father never referred to her by her full name. "Wha-?"

                "Rise and shine."

                "No.." She whined as she pulled her deep purple covers over her head. It was a Saturday. She had no reason to get up except to-. Oh yeah she was meeting James at her house.

                Which meant the guy waking her up definitely was not her father. James.

                "What are you doing here, James?!" Darcy freaked pulling the covers to hide herself. She was covered with her baggy sweater and shorts but still.

                "We were going to meet at yours to get to work on your car and possibly the History assignment." He tilted his head in confusion.

                "I meant why are you in my room and how did you get in here?" She turned to her phone and unlocked the android device. 10:12 am, the white text obvious against the deep red of her background.

                "Well, your dad let me up." He smiled handing her a cup of coffee. It smelt so good, and roused her from sleep excellently.

                "Huh, thanks." She rubbed her eyes and pulled on her nerdy glasses before taking the cup and cradling it.

                Her dad decided to walk past the open door at that very minute. "No funny business." He called as he strolled on through.

                "Is that a family motto or something?" He blurted out.

                "When it comes to attractive boys yes." She picked herself out of bed and gestured to the room. "Make yourself comfortable."

                "You think I'm attractive?" James smirked from where he sat on her bed.

                Darcy rolled her eyes as she entered her closet and extracted some comfortable clothes out before making her way to her bathroom on the other side of the room.

                "So," James started as she changed in the en-suite. "I started reading grandpa's journal. And I couldn't stop, so I'm almost halfway through it now."

                "What's it like?" Darcy called out of the crack in the door. She was changing her tank top to a purple tee before she started to wash her face and brush her teeth.

                "Interesting." James smiled as he wandered around her room taking in all the details, pausing by the photo frames. They held happy pictures of her with her father, old friends, puppies. The one he specifically paused on was of Darcy and her parents. They were sitting eating ice-cream next to the Eiffel Tower. Darcy had a spot of ice-cream on her nose. She looked so happy. A part of James wanted him to find a way to make her that happy himself.

                "Just interesting?" Darcy beamed from his side. She had finished changing and had put some foundation and mascara on, and she was running a brush through her long, wavy, brunette hair, de-knotting it. "Whatcha looking at?"

                "You. Is this your mom?" He pointed to the picture.

                "Yeah."

                "You look like her."

                "That's what genetics do, wonder boy." She smiled as she pushed her hair into a messy French braid and donned her glasses. Her fringe flowed over her left eye, framing the glasses. "How do I look?" She spun a little before picking up her keys, her phone, her purse and the journal. She grabbed a small messenger bag from a hook inside her closet and shoved them inside, crossing the strap over her shoulders once she was done. "Ready?"

                "Yup." He retrieved his coffee and exited her room, making her way down to her garage.

                                                                *             *             *

                It turned out James' version of "help" was to sit down on the side not helping at all.

                "Grandpa and Ben were best friends since the first day. They grew up together, lived together, fought together."

                "Yeah? Sounds like you and Steve." She commented over the hood of the car. "Could you pass me that screwdriver?" She pointed at the tool that was literally a few inches away from his hand.

                "It does doesn't it." He agreed. "Anyway when they got enlisted, T.J was put in different team to Ben. T.J was captured and held hostage during his first year. Ben advanced into enemy territory to rescue T.J, against orders." James made no effort to move to help her. Darcy sighed, hanging her head before walking over to him and picked up the tool herself.

                "Wow, go Granddad." She cheered before tightening the part she needed to. "Fancy sitting in the front and turning the ignition?"

                James nodded, moved and leaned through the non-existent window to turn the key. The engine spluttered but didn't do much to actually work. She did see the cause of that though. She motioned to him to cut the engine and he did before continuing with his summary. "So once Ben rescued T.J they returned to camp with the rest of T.J's team. The colonel let him off with a warning and promoted Ben to Captain and T.J to Sergeant, and granted them their own team."

                "The Howling Commando's." Darcy filled in.

                "Yep, Steve's grandfather was a part of the team too, but Ben and T.J were the leaders of the pack." He smiled sitting on the work table where he could see Darcy lean over the car. She looked like she belonged there; while other girls stand with Starbuck's in their hands, Darcy looked most content working on her Baby.

                "Awesome." She pulled a piece of useless shrapnel out and threw it away behind her. "Try again." He dropped from the table and turned the ignition. It sputtered longer than the previous test before roaring to life. "Whoo!"

                James shut the car off and stood next to Darcy as she overlooked the engine one last time. "We did it?"

                "I fixed the engine. Now for the rest of the kinks." Darcy sighed as she shut the hood and sat on the bumper. She looked over to her father who was descending the stairs.

                "Did I hear successful ignition?" He smiled and entered the garage floor.

                "Yes you did, sir." James smirked before sitting back on the work table.

                He nodded, standing next to Darcy and handed her an envelope. "For the car."

                Darcy opened the envelope and found $2000 inside. "You know the parts don't cost this much, right?"

                "I know. Danny's going to be here soon, he's got the parts you need back at the garage. The rest of the cash is yours." He smiled before moving away. "I'll be up in my office if you need me."

                "Thanks dad." Darcy was gracious of his gift. They weren't the richest people living in New York, rarely did Darcy get so much money. She watched him walk away before turning to James and smirking. "So, did you read any further in T.J's journal?"

                "No, the last thing I read about was Steve's grandfather, I fell asleep after that." He shrugged.

                "I still haven't opened Granddad's." Darcy looked over her shoulder to where her bag sat with the book leaking out.

                "Why don't you now?" The opportunity was there. She shrugged before turning to the bag and grabbing the old journal.

                After unfastening the ties, inside lay all her grandfather's thoughts and feelings, his life in the most honest words. His handwriting was simple print; easy to read but still smudged and dated. She began reading and James continued reading his in the corner of her eye. The garage door was open and the busy Brooklyn life continued without fluctuation.


	8. The Garage

                Danny arrived about an hour later with his tow truck apologising for being late. Darcy had read Ben's account up to the part where Ben was captured by the Nazi organisation HYDRA. She shared what she had read with James as Danny hooked up the Camaro.

                "You two can go an' hop in the front if you're ready."

                "Thanks Danny." Darcy smiled as she walked to the front of his truck and hopped in, James following behind and closing the passenger door. Darcy was still reading from the journal, her hair flowing down over her glasses. To James, she was beautiful, even performing the simple act of reading a book. Darcy noticed and looked up at his smiling face. "What?"

                "Nothing." He beamed and waited while Danny hopped into the driver's seat and started the ignition.

                "Ready?"

                "Yep, let's fix Baby up."

                                                                                *             *             *

                Back at Danny's garage, she watched as seats were taken from her car and replaced with new, shiny black leather and a phone dock was being installed. So she could connect her music through her phone and rock out while driving.

                Danny and his team were making sure everything was perfect for her baby. She couldn't wait to drive her again. While she was standing in the observation room of the office, James was sat behind her in the somewhat comfortable chairs reading his journal, furrowing at certain parts.  She had paused in the reading of uncle Benny's journal. She had gotten to the horrible experiments that Nazi's perform on him. He wrote down every emotion he has feeling during the torture, and Darcy felt that herself, deep in her heart and her gut. It was agonising. Of course she would have to keep reading, but a break was well deserved at that moment.

                When Darcy plopped down in the seat next the James she was restless. She wasn't used to anyone else working on her car, it felt wrong. To Darcy he looked like he was still reading, but he was actually watching her twitch in the corner of his eye. She had a nervous tick, tapping her knees. She sometimes began to bite her nails, but stopped and resumed tapping  or shaking her leg again. Placing the bookmark back inside the journal, James stilled her leg by placing a hand on it. "Calm down. Nothing bad is going to happen."

                "I'm just not used to it is all. Sorry if I interrupted your reading." She sighed, stretching her head leaning against the wall. Her neck was exposed, where her hair had fallen off her shoulder.

                "You didn't interrupt." Came the reply, before his phone began ringing and he stood up to answer it.  "Hello?" He asked. "What?"

                Darcy watched him with interest, something seemed to be of concern.

                "Uh, yeah. I'll be there as soon as I can. Bye." He hung up and looked to Darcy. "I have to go."

                "What happened?" Darcy stood up and followed the slowly retreating boy as he exited the building.

                "Steve is attempting to cook, and is looking for a certain utensil." He held the journal in his hand and pushed his phone in his pocket.

                Darcy was so very confused. "So why couldn't you tell him over the phone?"

                "He can't cook and I'm afraid if he does he'll burn our house down." He makes sense. Does that mean he can cook? No Darcy, not the thing you should be thinking about.

                "Oh okay. I'll text you later." Darcy waved as he ran down the street. She slipped back into the warehouse to find Danny waiting for her, ready to explain some things to her. Probably prices.


	9. Everyone Hates Someone

                By the time Darcy returned home that night, she had spent almost half of the money her father gave her that morning, on the parts she needed. Luckily she didn't have to pay for anything more. She entered her house from the roof entrance, and saw her dad hard at work in his office. He hadn't noticed her enter, so she spoke frightening out of his thoughts. "Hey dad."

                He looked up at her, smiling once he recognised the face. "Oh Darcy hello. How's Baby?"

                "Okay. I've paid for all the parts and Danny's keeping her down at his place until the parts come in. " She sat down on the only other office chair in the room, and started spinning slowly, as to not make herself sick. "How is that huge stack of paperwork going?"

                "Ugh." Was his only response. "Not good. One of the board of members is giving me a really rough welcoming. Such a workload, plus my lesson plans for next week have to be done before Monday."

                Darcy nodded, "I met one of the governor's a couple days ago. He was kind of creepy."

                "Pierce right?" Darcy nodded in agreement. "Yeah, he's the reason for all this. But I can't say anything to Fury because they are friends and I think Fury lost his eye saving Pierce or something like that."

                "Oh I always thought he just really liked eyepatches." Darcy felt like she needed to comment on that, just as she yawned. "I'm very tired, so I'm gonna go to bed." She stood up and leaned to kiss her father on the cheek. "Don't forget to sleep."

                "I won't. Night Darce." He waved off behind him as she descended the stairs to her room.

                When she reached her bedroom her phone began to ring. Without checking the caller I.D, Darcy answered. "Hello?"

                "What happened to texting me later?"

                "I had other priorities." She shrugged as she toed off her shoes and pulled off her jeans with one hand.

                "I'm hurt." He joked over the phone.

                "I'm sure you are. Did your house burn down in the end?" She changed the subject as she pulled on a baggy tee and her sleep shorts.

                "No, no it did not." He laughed. Darcy heard a groan and a muffled Steve saying 'you told her about that?' to which James replied 'she was there when you called'.

                "So if Steve doesn't cook, I assume you do?" Darcy sat on her bed, with her phone on speaker while she tied her hair up in a loose ponytail. Once her hair was out of the way she settled in bed with her lamp on, the journal in her lap and her phone by her ear again.

                "Your assumptions would be correct. Why, does that surprise you?" He quipped, Darcy could feel the smirk through the phone.

                "Hm, now that I think about it? No it doesn't." She started reading the journal, from where she stopped earlier that day. She continued reading to the part where T.J rescues Ben, when James called her name down the line. "What?"

                "You didn't reply, I thought the line had dropped."

                "Sorry, I started reading Ben's journal and obviously got lost in it. What were you saying?"

                "Nothing, just wondered what you were doing tomorrow?" Darcy had plans. Jane and Natasha were going to take her to a mall and go shopping.

                "Sorry James, Jane and Nat have me tomorrow." Darcy smiled. "Though if Steve and Peggy are at it tomorrow, we could do something once I'm back?"

                "Yeah, I'll just turn up at your house at midnight to chat again. I'm sure your dad will love that." He bantered, while Darcy rolled her eyes and shook her head.

                "What dad doesn't know won't hurt him."

                "What a rebel."

                "I'm falling asleep here, goodnight James." She heard him repeat a goodnight before she hung up. Placing the book on her bedside table, she leaned over to switch the light off and laid down under her covers.


	10. Natasha Knows Everything

                The next day, Natasha and Jane pulled her out of bed and took her shopping, more than willing to spend the rest of her car money on clothes. They met with Pepper in the mall and Darcy was dragged into every clothes shop you could find. Where she longed to be was in the bookstore. Or talking to James. Wow, her plan to not get attached has really gone down the drain.

                She was shoved into a changing room with four dresses; long, short, form fitting and loose and free and told to try them on and show her friends. Stripping her own clothes, apart from her shoes,  she tried the loose fitting, flowing high-low dress over her jeans and exited the small room. Natasha nodded, while Jane and Pepper both squealed and commented on how cute she looked.

                As she tried the next dress on, the figure hugging, floor length dress her phone buzzed.

                **JB: Hey, how is the shopping trip going?**

Darcy rolled her eyes, before tapping out a quick reply.

**DL: I'd rather be in a bookshop right now. But it's okay.**

**JB: Does that mean you're trying on clothes? Take a pic? :)**

**DL: You wish, James.**

**JB: I do,  I really do.**

Pepper called from outside. "How's that one Darce?" Darcy plopped her phone down and finished zipping up the back. The dress was a sleek, black, floor length gown and had a single shoulder strap that was made of lace. It was definitely her favourite she'd tried on so far. Smoothing the silk fabric down, Darcy exited the stall. Gasps rang out as Darcy spun, due to Pepper's request. "It's perfect."

                 Darcy smiled, and couldn't help but imagine James seeing her in it. She looked at the tag that hung from the shoulder strap. Her eyes downcast from the tag and she sighed with disappointment. "Too bad, I can't afford it." She turned back around, picking the skirt up and re-entering the room to take it off.

                She tried the last two on, but neither of them felt quite as right as the silk gown. After three hours of clothes shopping, Darcy was allowed to go to the Barnes and Noble in the mall while Pepper, Jane and Natasha all disappeared off to somewhere else.

                **JB: Still shopping?**

**DL: For books, yes.**

Darcy replied as she picked up another book and added it to the small stack she cradled in her arms.

                **JB: Ah, you were released from supervision it seems?**

**DL: Haha, what a joker.**

**JB: Is that a hint of sarcasm I detect?**

**DL: It's not a hint.**

After five minutes of browsing, she approached the till with a stack of eight books, paid for them and began to exit the store by the time he replied.

                **JB: Wow, a guy tries to be nice and all he gets in return is sarcasm.**

**DL: Is this the same guy who tried to ask me for pictures earlier?**

**JB: ...Fair point.**

Walking out into the fresh air, Darcy bumped into the girls who were waiting with a bag. "Hey, sorry if I spent too long in there." Jane waved her off while Pepper held out the bag to her. "What's this?" Darcy opened the bag with a confused expression on her face. Inside, was the glamorous, black silk gown neatly folded and wrapped in pink tissue paper. "I can't afford this."

                "But I can." Pepper nodded.

                "Why? I can't pay you back, unless it's with love and cuddles."

                "You don't need to pay me back. It's a gift. And we were thinking you could wear it for the dance in a few weeks." Pepper smiled, looking to Natasha and Jane who beamed. Yes, much like every other high school in the US of A, SHIELD High also held an unusual amount of dances. Darcy also knew Pepper and Natasha weren't going to let her get out of this.

                "You guys," Darcy started, pulling the group into a hug. "You are honestly the best." They all began walking towards the line of yellow cabs outside the building, and Natasha spoke up as they hopped in one.

                "Maybe you could impress Barnes with it." Darcy slapped her arm and shook her head.


	11. Darcy Does her Work..

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sometime later..

                The taxi dropped her off at her house, Darcy left with the few shopping bags she had with her. She waved goodbye to her friends and left some cash with them for the cab. While she entered her house, her phone buzzed alert with text messages, probably mostly from James. She ran to her room to drop the bags, not bothering to take to trips. It was a test of strength and Darcy was not about to lose. Sighing with relief Darcy sat down on her bed and pulled her phone out.

                **JB: Hey, how much have you written up for History?**

**JB: Darcy, please help me.**

Five minutes later

                **JB: Please don't leave me. I need your awesome and amazing help.**

**JB: I can grovel, beg. I'm serious, I think I've got a block in my brain that's stopping me from being able to do this paper?**

**JB: How's Baby coming along?**

And from her father;

                **Dad: Can u order pizza in?? I'll b home around 10**

With a little pizza emoticon. He'd had a day full of meetings at the school today, and she wasn't surprised he wanted pizza. His was the first message she replied to.

                **Darcy: Sure. The usual plus B &J??**

**Dad: Lots of B &J.**

Came the reply a few seconds later. Picking up the house phone, she dialled for the pizza place and ordered the usual with extra Ben and Jerry's ice-cream. As she did she texted James a reply.

                **DL: 1) Most of it. I'm still reading the journal though. Some things I don't want to put in though. 2) I can help you. 3) I'm not gonna leave you. 4) Yes you do that, and you'd need a brain in order to have a blockage ;) and 5) Baby's nearly there, she just needs a new paintjob and less dents. Also If you are really desperate you can come over and I'll help you.**

Leaving her phone on her bed, Darcy took her new clothes into her wardrobe and hung them up on hangers. She hid the dress in between other clothes, she didn't really know why she was hiding it but she was. Her ringtone sang as she re-entered her bedroom, she picked up the phone and saw James' messages.

                **JB: Wow, so organised. I agree that some things aren't suitable for our paper. Thank you for helping me, I'll be over in a minute. Still insulting me? And I bet you can't wait to have Baby back and being able to drive her. And Thank you, thank you, thank you. ;)**

                Darcy smiled and rolled her eyes, before texting back.

                **DL: Which entrance?**

**JB: Roof.**

Darcy ran up the spiral staircase into the office on the roof above, and unlocked the door, and waited outside. Soon enough James came running from the other side of the garden, with a messenger bag hanging from his shoulder. Darcy smiled as he slowed down.

                "What happened to the bike? I miss the bike." She let him into her home and locked the door behind them.

                Out of breath, he replied. "Well, you know, I thought I'd take a walk."

                "I assume the reason you were out for a walk in the first place was because of Steve and Peggy's private activities?"

                He nodded in reply. "Is your dad home?" He craned his neck at the corridor leading to the individual rooms. Darcy led him into her room and shook her head.

                "Not until 10. So you have to be gone by then." She pointed before pulled him over to her desk and sofa area or her room and watched him sit in the desk chair. She turned to pick up the journal from her bedside table and turned on her computer. Once the laptop started up she typed in her password and showed his what she'd written. "That's what I've done so far."

It contained the timeline of the war, and the basics of what the Nazis did and how they came to power, then there on its own at the bottom of the page was a title.

**THE HOWLING COMMANDOS:**

**THE STORY OF SERGEANT T.J BARNES AND CAPTAIN BENJAMIN COULSON.**

But underneath. Blank.

                "You weren't kidding when you said there was some stuff you didn't want to put in." He lightly joked.

                "Yeah, well," Darcy paused, looking at the open journal on the desk. "It's a little hard you know. Trying to convey those thoughts and feelings. It seems like a breach of privacy."

                "I know the feeling." He agreed, nodding.

                Darcy yawned and sighed. "You know what? I've had a long day. What else do you want to do?" She stopped him before he said anything. "Not that."

                James smirked. "Oh come on. What's the big deal?"

                "I'd rather have a full week in high school before I sleep with the quarterback."

                "So after that week?"

                "No. James that's not what I mean." She sighed. Boys.

                "Aw, meany."

                "Want to play something?" She dragged him over to her bed, where the TV and her consoles were.

                "Ooh yes. Holy shit you have Destiny?" The game had only come out a couple of days ago. She had it on pre-order for two months.

                "I do." She turned her PS4 on and inserted the disc for Destiny. She hadn't played it much, trying to do as much of her homework early.

                                                                                *             *             *

                For 3 straight hours, Darcy and Bucky played Destiny. Darcy was sitting cross legged, while James sprawled out on her bed, in an awkward position. Then her father came home and called out for her. The pizza had already arrived and she and James shared hers.

                "Darcy?"

                Darcy paused the game, hearing his call. "Shit, shit, shit." Darcy rolled over her bed to grab her phone, dropping the game controller. She checked the time;  10:30 pm. "Shit, Bucky why didn't you say something?" She heard her father climbing the stairs, and froze.

                "Not my fault, you told me to shut up."

                "Ssh." Darcy dragged him up from the bed and pushed him into her closet, just as her dad opened the door.

                "Everything okay?" He tiredly asked.

                "Mhmm." Darcy nodded. the door behind her wasn't completely closed and she could feel Bucky's hand ghosting under her t-shirt, on her back. She smacked his hand away, hearing him hiss behind her.

                Coulson narrowed his eyes before shaking his head and shrugging. "Okay, well I'm gonna take this pizza and eat myself to sleep. Don't be too loud. I've had enough of people shouting at me today."

                "Pierce again?" Darcy sighed, trying to keep a level voice as Bucky's hand poked out of the closet once again. Coulson nodded, before pushing away from the doorframe and waving a hand over his shoulder as a good bye. Darcy waited until she heard the bedroom door close before, kicking the closet door open and slapping his hand. "Have you got a death wish?"

                Shrugged. He shrugged. She could have hit him. "You called me Bucky." That was what he pointed out. Seriously?

                "Yeah, well..." Darcy didn't really have an answer for that.

                "I like it." He smirked and stepped out into her room once again.

                Darcy looked up into his eyes, those beautiful, ice blue eyes, and smiled. He returned the gesture and stepped a little closer to her. They both glance down at each other's lips, Bucky poking his tongue out to wet his own, Darcy catching hers with her teeth. Her plan to not get attached for fear of moving away again, had seriously gone to shit.

                "You've gotta go."

                He frowned. "What?"

                "It's late, we have school tomorrow and I really don't want my dad finding you in here."

                He hesitated, thinking about it. "I should probably go. Pick you up in the morning?"

                "Yeah. 7?"

                "Yeah." He smirked. "I'll bring the bike."

                "Good. I miss the bike. Plus once Baby's ready, I can drive you."

                "Yeah, and we can go on this mysterious journey of yours." He raised an eyebrow, asking for more clues.

                "We can. Come on, we're gonna have to sneak you outta here." Darcy took his hand, the one he wasn't using to grab the strap of his bag.             

                "Oo fun." He whispered in her ear as they ascended to the roof. Darcy pulled him through the large metal door, her sort of front door, from the roof. Once they were in the public garden together, he spun Darcy around before slowly walking away. "Goodbye, Darcy Lewis."

                "Goodbye, Bucky Barnes."

                "Keep with that. I like it."

                "Get outta here, you punk." Darcy shooed him away and watched as he laughed, twisted on his toes and left with a wave behind him.


	12. Impromptu Make-Out Sessions Are The Best..

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> .. until they are interrupted.

                "Darcy, you up?" Coulson called into her room, finding Darcy texting on her phone, dressed and ready, even though she had some time before she had to get to school.

                "Yeah, I'm up."

                "Huh."

                Darcy tore her attention from her phone to glare at her father. "What?"

                "Is this guy going to be a problem?"

                "Dad!"

                "What? I'm just looking out for my only daughter."

                "He's not going to be a problem and I'm leaving now so bye." Darcy skipped out of her room and down to the garage, where outside Bucky was waiting. On the bike. Oh how she loved the bike. Steve and Peggy were there too but they were too busy sucking each other's faces to care about that.

                "Hey." Bucky smiled, fed up of looking at the happy couple.

                "Hey, yourself hotshot." Darcy smiled and watched her father glare at them in the corner of her eye. "Ready?" He handed her a helmet, black and silver in colour. She donned it, before swinging her leg behind him, and sitting close to his back.

                "Yep. See you in class Mr Coulson." Bucky waved as he kick the bike into start and sped off, with Darcy holding onto his back, and Steve and Peggy following behind.

                                                                                *             *             *

                As they drifted into school, Darcy heard the passing remarks of some of the gossiping girls in SHIELD High. "Who's on Bucky's bike?", "I wonder who it could be?", "God, I'm so jealous of whoever it is.". She couldn't help but smirk at the last one. He pulled into one of the few empty parking spaces and Darcy pulled the helmet off her head, stroking her unruly hair back down. She was happy that helmet hair rarely got to her. Bucky smiled at her as they swung their legs over onto the concrete and stood next to each other.

                Darcy had no idea what they were. She wanted to say friends, but it was more than that. They hadn't kissed yet, even though yesterday they got damn close to it. She couldn't label it, and to be honest, she didn't really want to.

                Walking into the building together, she could see people staring at her, but she didn't care. Not really. She was weirded out by some of them. However Natasha, Jane and Pepper all hounded her at her locker and Thor and Clint led Bucky away to talk guy stuff on the other side of the hallway.

                "So you and Barnes huh? Is it a thing now?" Natasha stated obviously, but with a smirk on her lips.

                "No, there is no Bucky and I..." Darcy unlocked her locker and sighed. "At least I don't think so."

                Jane squealed. "But you want there to be?"

                Darcy looked over to where Bucky was chatting with Thor, genuinely interested in their conversation. He looked at her and winked, before looking back to Thor and joining him in fits of laughter. "Hmm." Darcy pulled her History book out of her locker and slammed it shut.

                "So?" Pepper insisted.

                "I'm sorry guys, I have class. I'll see you later though." Darcy escaped their questions, disappearing off to History where Mr Hale was banging his head against the desk. "You okay, Mr Hale?"

                "No, I've lost my schedule and my stuff so no class today." Darcy was just about to leave when she heard him mutter, "I bet it was Barnes, It's not the first time he's stolen my stuff." She couldn't help but smirk. She made her way to the field where no doubt Bucky and the football team were practicing. She sat up in the bleachers and pulled out her grandfather's journal, giving her something to do for an hour. She noticed Coach Finstock yelling at Bucky, who was trying to keep his laughing to a minimum. Steve was sitting on the bench giggling, which made her think that whatever Bucky supposedly did, wasn't actually him but was Steve instead. Bucky looked up into the bleachers and saw Darcy chuckling at him, who couldn't help but break out in a grin. Coach Finstock did some more yelling, pointing in the general direction of the school building and at Bucky. Darcy watched him pick up his bag and stroll towards her.

                "Hey. What are you doing here?"

                Darcy squinted, the sun bright in her eyes, and watched as Bucky sat next to her. "Hale cancelled History. Someone stole his schedule, and he seems to think it was you."

                "God, it was one time." He laughed, placing the bag next to him and leaning against the back. "So, how much have you read now?"

                "Most of it. Ben's talking about Steve's grandfather just after he died." She smiled sadly.

                "Ah, yeah. T.J mentioned it briefly, not wanting to dwell on the specifics I suppose. " She understood. She could never have written about her mother's death at the time she died. Her phone buzzed in her pocket Darcy fished it out and found that Baby was ready for her. Darcy squealed, smacking Bucky's arm with an ecstatic grin on her face.  "What? What?"

                "Baby's ready! She's alive. Look." Danny had sent her some pictures, to which she rotated her phone and showed Bucky. "Aaaa! I can't wait for this day to be over!" Baby looked fresh out of the factory. She had a custom grill on the front but other than that she looked brilliant. Darcy looked so relieved. She had started to itch with anticipation. Darcy could see Natasha and Pepper walking towards the pair with curious faces. "Shit, come with me."

                "Why?" He looked up to see the two stalking towards them. "Let's go." He picked up his bag and followed Darcy out of the bleachers and into the school through the gym. They hid around a corner while the girls wandered away looking for them. Darcy and Bucky were extremely close together. There was a few centimetres between their lips and Darcy couldn't help but lean forward and kiss him. There was a moment of hesitation, one that could be described as surprise, before he dragged his hand up to her cheek and pulled her in closer, reciprocating the kiss. She moaned into his and he pushed her against the wall, leaning in. They broke for breath, and Darcy finally opened her eyes.

                "We should do that more often." She smiled, while Bucky chuckled in agreement, leaning in again for another kiss.

                "Definitely." He murmured, pursing his lips and kissing hers. She opened her mouth to let his tongue dart in. She stroked the base of his neck, moving with him, making the most of their kiss. They continued kissing until Pierce interrupted them.

                "Excuse me." He coughed, the pair pulling back and glaring at him. "Shouldn't you be in class? Especially you Darcy Lewis."

                "Sorry sir, I haven't got a class at the moment." She innocently replied. She was mad he interrupted her fantastic make out session with Bucky.

                "Hmm." he didn't appreciate her backchat, but decided not to dwell on it. He moved to walk away, as he did, "Barnes."

                "Pierce." Bucky almost growled at him.

                Darcy watched him leave before looking at Bucky who's hard expression softened one look at her face.  "Okay?"

                Bucky nodded and tipped her chin up to kiss her again. He had a class pretty soon, they both did. English. Oh the joy. He pulled back licking his lips and smirking. "We should go to English. Who knows what your dad would ask if you ditched."

                Darcy groaned, hanging her head. "Ugh no. I wanna stay and make out with you. This isn't fair."

                Bucky laughed pulling her in for a hug, "I want to stay too but we can't."

                "Since when did you become full of morals?"

                "Since your dad could probably kill me easily."

                Darcy thought about that, and the way he threatened Ian back in L.A. "Yeah he probably would." Darcy pushed herself away from the wall and into Bucky's arms. he chuckled as they walked towards her dad's English classroom, hands ghosting each others as they walked. Students were quickly clearing the hallways and entering their last classes of the day. Natasha smirked as Darcy entered the room with Bucky following behind. She sat down in her seat at the back. Jane slid into the seat Bucky was going to sit in. Leaving him on the other side of the class near the front, but also closest to the door.

                Jane passed a note to Darcy who opened it silently, seeing what she'd written.

                JF: Where did you go? Nat and Pep said you disappeared w/ James.

                Darcy looked up at Jane, who raised her eyebrows, insisting that she answered the question.

                DL: Nowhere.  Darcy passed the note to Jane, focusing back on her work. She hadn't noticed that Natasha had gotten the note.

                NR: You went somewhere. Tell me.

                **PP: We're your friends Darcy. Tell us if you want to.**

Darcy shook her head.

       DL: There's nothing to tell. I don't think.

The girls all shared a look before nodding to Darcy, respecting her space and focusing on the class. Darcy noticed Bucky turn around and smile at her over his shoulder. She returned the gesture, before she heard the bell ring and everyone rushed to pack up. Darcy slowly collected her things while everyone filtered out of the room including Bucky.

                "Darcy?"

                "Hmm, yeah?"

                "Is there something you need to tell me about?"

                "Huh? What no."

                "What about Baby?"

                "Oh right yeah, Baby's ready and I'm gonna go get her now." Darcy yanked the strap of her bag over her shoulder and strolled to the door.

                "Need a lift?"

                "Nope. I'll see ya later dad."

                "Be home before 11, Darcy." Coulson shook his head.

                "When am I not?" She smirked, saying goodbye and exiting the classroom. She found Bucky waiting outside her locker as she picked up her homework from the metal box.

                "So we still going to this mysterious, ominous place this weekend?" He smiled, closing the door once she was finished and walking out to the car park with her.

                She stopped by his bike and shrugged. "If you're up for it. Since I have a car now. Plus you get to learn something new about me." She winked standing close to where he stood by the handlebars. There were still a lot of people around, slowly slipping away to their homes. One of the girls she saw that morning was glaring daggers into her, while her friends Natasha and Pepper were high-fiving. Before hopping on the back of his bike, Darcy smirked and leaned in for a kiss.

                Bucky smirked, wrapping an arm around her waist pulling her closer to him. "Mmm that's always a plus." He murmured as he took a breath, kissing her back. She closed her eyes and he did the same.  He tucked her hair behind her ear as he stroked her cheek mid kiss. Bucky could see Mr. Coulson exiting the school building and pulled away. "Come on. Let's go get your baby."

                Darcy beamed, nodding as she swung her leg over the sleek black motorbike, and accepted the helmet he held out to her. He pulled his own on his head before checking she was ready and kicking the bike into start. He sped past Natasha and Pepper on their way out of the parking lot, Darcy noticing the knowing smiles on their faces and knew she was going to have to talk to them tomorrow.


	13. Something's up with Coulson...

                "Darcy! Back so soon." Danny smiled as she and Bucky pulled into the garage. The team were all sitting around drinking beer and generally enjoying life. There was a grey covered car in the centre of the showroom. She knew it was Baby.

                "Of course. Where's my baby, Danny?" She replied after pulling the helmet off and smoothing her hair down. Bucky joined her taking his own off while standing back against his bike.

                Danny stood by the concealed car and smiled. "Ready?" Darcy grinned and nodded excitedly. He smiled and ripped the cover off the car. Her baby looked brand new. The chrome grill and tyre rims shined in the light, she could see the reflections of the world in the sleek black paintjob. There were windows, which is always great to have on a car. The interiors were exactly how she wanted them. Black leather, her phone dock so she could listen to her own music. She ran over to Danny and hugged him, and the rest of the team unable to say anything but "thank you" and "oh my god". Then she skipped over to Bucky and hugged him, whispering a thank you in his ear, as she kissed his cheek.

                Danny held a key out her and smiled. "Wanna take her for a ride?"

                "Hell yes. Coming?" Darcy took the key and turned to Bucky who nodded, and strolled over to the passenger seat of the car. Inside she turned the key in the ignition and heard her baby roar to life, smoothly. It was a sound she had realised she'd missed so much since it died. She pulled out of the garage, onto the road, it wasn't particularly busy, and she could really feel the roar of the engine in front of her. Her hair whipped in the wind, Bucky watching with an intense fascination and a smile on his face.

                                                                                ***  
                They drove around for a while,  Darcy dropped Bucky off at the garage to pick up his bike. She turned off the ignition and leaned against her car. "I am gonna miss this bike." She nodded as he lifted his leg over and held is helmet. "But now I have my baby back, I'm okay." She grinned as she pushed herself away from the car, moving to stand by his side.

                "I think it's a good substitute." He smirked, tipping his chin up to kiss her properly.

                "Mm, never gonna have enough of that." She bit her lip, kissing him one last time before her put his helmet on.

                "Me neither. I'll see you tomorrow Darcy."

                "See you, Bucky." She waved as the bike sped out of the lot, and off in the direction of his house. Darcy, smiled before hopping into her car and reversing out, heading home.

                                                                                ***  
                Her father was waiting at the garage while she rolled up. She checked the time and it was before 11, so he wasn't angry with her. He smiled as she turned the ignition off in the garage, and she noticed that the garaged had been swapped around, allowing for two cars to be parked adjacently to the doors. "Hey."

                "Hey Darce." He smiled as he closed the garage door. "So Baby's as good as new then."

                "Yeah, she is." Darcy nodded before pulling what was left of the $2000 her dad gave her to pay for the car. "Here you go."

                "Nope, keep it." He didn't accept her return. "I told you the rest was yours." He waited until Darcy had agreed and returned the money to her purse. "Do you like it here? In New York?"

                "Yeah, dad, of course." She smiled, "Why do you ask?"

                "No reason. I just wanted to know."

                "Okay, well I'm going to go to bed. Night dad."

                "Goodnight Darcy."


	14. Virginia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy and Bucky go to Virginia.

                When Darcy drove to school, her baby would shine in the sunlight. She missed driving, especially driving her Chevy. When she arrived in the school parking lot, she didn't have the awesome slow motion entrance that the teen high school movies promise you if you have a smoking car. She stole the empty parking space next to where Steve and Bucky usually took a whole space up for their bikes. No one really took notice of her or her car, but she did get a few disgusting looks from some of the girls around. When Steve and Bucky rolled up on their bikes, Darcy was leaning against the hood with a foot on the bumper while scrolling through twitter.

                "Hey, hotshot." Bucky smiled as he strolled up beside her.

                "Hey, yourself." She smiled.

                "Oh sorry, I was talking to your car. Hi to you also." He replied sarcastically.

                Darcy scoffed before punching him lightly and pulling her bag over her shoulder. She linked her hand with his as they strolled into the main building together, and Darcy leaned her head on Bucky's shoulder. "I can't wait for this week to be over."

                "Yes, I'm very intrigued by our little adventure." He nodded slowing to a stop just outside of her locker, so she could leave a book inside.

                "Hmm, same, Dad's itching to get me out of the house, so he can have some quiet time to himself," Darcy admitted as she closed the locker and leaned on the door looking up at Bucky. "Though he's probably going to spend most of the weekend worrying about what you and I are up to."

                Bucky laughed and shook his head. "This is a 'no funny business' trip, Darcy."

                "Sure it is." Darcy shrugged before walking off towards English.

                Bucky walked beside her, their hands locked together in his strong grip.

\--------

                The rest of the week rolled around quickly, and soon enough Bucky arrived at Darcy's house with a duffle bag of clothes. Darcy was waiting out front with her father, Baby resting on the drive. "Hey, Buck." She smiled at him as he stopped beside her.

                "Hey Darce, Mr. Coulson."

                "Barnes." Her dad tried to hide the glare, but Bucky could see. "No f-"

                "No funny business." The pair of them recited. "We know dad," Darcy whined softly, "Everything's going to be okay. We'll be back tomorrow."

                "You better be." He pulled Darcy in for a hug before pointing at Bucky. "Keep your hands to yourself and look after her."

                Bucky held a hand up in surrender before backing away to throw his bag into the back seat of the car then he slid into the passenger seat and waited for Darcy.

                Darcy held her dad's shoulder as she asked, "Is everything alright, dad?"

                He nodded and smiled, "Of course honey, just have some fun."

                Darcy hesitated before she pulled away and slipped into the driver's seat. She waved at her dad as she drove off, taking the quickest route out of New York towards Virginia.

\----

                After two hours out of the six-hour journey, Bucky started up with the questions again. "So where exactly are we off?" He had been shaking his knee for most of the trip, nodding along to her music, and occasionally singing a bar or two.

                Darcy was watching the road but couldn't help but roll her eyes. "You really can't accept 'It's a surprise', can you?"

                Bucky shook his head. "Nope. C'mon Darce, just tell me what state we're going to?"

                "Virginia. Alright, that's all I'm gonna say." She conceded, before uncapping her bottle of water and taking a swill.

                "Why Virginia?"

                "Because that's where the surprise is."

                "You're not gonna tell me anything are ya?"

                Darcy repeated his earlier actions, shaking her head and replying, "Nope."

 ------------------

                She pulled up and parked just beside a sign for The George Washington and Jefferson National Forest, and turned the ignition off.

                "Oh my god, you really are going to kill me and bury me in the forest aren't you?" Bucky commented.

                Darcy rolled her eyes and stepped out of the car without a word. She strolled around to the truck and pulled out a backpack. James joined her outside and kissed her as she slammed the boot shut and locked her car up. "I'm not going to kill you. The surprise isn't too far away, don't worry."

                "Alright. I trust you." He replied wearily, but she took it as a joke. The strolled through a dusty brown path together, hand in hand. They weren't following a path, but Darcy could navigate those forest blindfolded, she'd done so, many times before.

                After about an hour's walk through tree lined paths, Darcy pushed the both of them out into a huge clearing. The view was beautiful; grassy plains, with a river slicing through the ground with a clear blue hue. She sighed and shut her eyes, breathing in the fresh air. "We're here."

                "This is the surprise?" Bucky asked.

                "No," she replied, opening her eyes and pointing, "That's the surprise."

                A herd of horses thundered through the trees out on the grassy area, must have been more than thirty creatures all of different sizes and breeds, coat colours like fingerprints. They looked beautiful.

                Darcy stepped forward and pressed her fingers to her lips, whistling strongly and loudly.

                One horse neighed and separated from the group, cantering directly towards the pair of them. Darcy grinned as the dapple gray horse slowed to a stop and whinnied happily, black mane blowing in the breeze.

                "Bucky, meet Epona. Epona, this is Bucky." She introduced the pair while Epona nudged Bucky's pockets searching for a snack.

                Darcy collected an apple from her bag and placed it in Bucky's open palm. Epona quickly gobbled the fruit up and whinnied again, looking to Darcy for love. She responded with a rigorous neck scratching that the mare certainly loved.

                A neigh from the herd below alerted Epona and the mare quickly galloped away, joining her herd.

                "Epona stumbled into my life when I was thirteen. I found her tangled up in a barbed wire fence. I was with some people, and out of all of them I was the only one Epona let near her without trying to struggle. She was injured badly, so I brought her back to my mom, who helped me heal her back up. I used to ride her, for a good section of my childhood." Darcy sat down on the grassy hill where they stood. "When my mom died and Dad and I moved to LA, I decided to let Epona go free and wild again. I never truly broke her in, so she managed to fit back into her wild nature. I still come up here, every now and then. Sometimes I think she's the only thing I have left of my mom."

                "Thank you," Bucky replied, almost speechless, "for sharing this with me." He pulled Darcy into his arms.

                They sat there for a good few hours, appreciating the peaceful atmosphere and the calming creatures not too far away from them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG, I'm so sorry, I haven't updated this in months.   
> I'm sorry if this is a short chapter, or if it's not particularly good, I lost the muse I had for this, but now I'm back on board, and thinking up the plot that I'm going with as I type.  
> Enjoy and feel free to comment, lovelies!


	15. Author's Note

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mid way author's note because it's been so long.

Hey everyone,

So it's been a while, mostly because since the last time I updated I've had college finals and moving to Uni and Uni work and oh my lords, I do not have any time in life. 

But don't fret! I'm trying to get back into this story and finish it, unfortunately, I never wrote down a plot (because I'm an idiot) so a lot of the original ideas I had I've now forgotten (sorry, I don't know why Derek is important to the plot anymore). But I'm trying. Bare with me a little bit. I'm trying to work a loose plot into what I already have, so it's easier to write, but I'm going to get back on this road. Because I love this story so far. Even if my writing is a bit cliche (Sorry).

I'm always open to plot ideas if you have any, just send me a message or a comment if you do. 

Thank you for all your lovely comments, subscriptions and kudos. Sorry for the major hiatus.

I'm trying.


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